


Letters around Eos

by Sinikka_von_Wolperting



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blood, Bromance, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poisoning, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-11-21 11:37:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11356725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinikka_von_Wolperting/pseuds/Sinikka_von_Wolperting
Summary: A request series with one shots around FFXV, nearly everything can happen here. REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN. For more information, look at the bottom notes. :D





	1. One for the team

**Author's Note:**

> So this first thing was requested by my favourite human and beta-reader Elillierose.
> 
> Dear Iris,  
> your brother is a big clumsy idiot that nearly got Prompto killed yesterday. Man, I don't even remember when I fucked up that bad the last time, but let me tell you the whole thing...

"Gladio! You're killing me here, big guy, stop already!"

Wheezing, Prompto let himself fall facedown in the grass. His world was spinning slightly and he closed his eyes to make it stop.

"What, I thought you liked your morning runs?"

"Yeah _mine_. That's no run with you, you're sprinting. How does Noctis keep up with you?"

Gladio, barely out of breath, laughed as he helped the blond back on his feet.

"With as much whining as you. Annnd maybe I normally run slower when I'm torturing the little prince."

"Oh, you traitor!" Prompto huffed in fake anger. Still he held onto the larger man for a moment to stop swaying. They walked back to the haven at a normal pace, finding Ignis already preparing breakfast and no sign of Noctis.

"That's a surprise," Ignis said instantly preparing two plates when he noticed them, "Since when did you become an early riser, Prompto?"

The blond chuckled and let himself fall into one of the chairs. "Dunno, one of those days I guess. Woke up when Gladdy was getting ready and thought I may as well join. I promise, I'll never do it again."

"Why is everyone awake already?" A groggy voice was heard from behind them and Prompto turned his head to see Noctis climb out of the tent, sporting an impressive bedhead, eyes only halfway open.

"Possibly because it's past eight by now," Ignis said with a sigh as he sat down on his chair.

Noctis joined them after a moment of collecting himself, not without throwing a glance over to Prompto and Gladio. "Don't tell me you two went on a jog together, how is Prompto still alive?"

Gladio only scoffed in amusement while Prompto was getting ready to tell another exaggerated story about how he nearly died on that run.

"You have to be in your best shape if you wanna keep up," Gladio finally butted in, acting like he was scolding the blond, but his voice sounded playful, "How are you gonna fight if you can't run?"

"By staying behind as I always do," the blond retorted in the same manner, "Can't shoot when I'm too close, so there's barely any danger for me to jump into an attack. I say that's good for me."

"Well aren't you a lucky one."

They were silenced by Ignis clapping his hands. "Enough of the bickering now," he said, wearing an amused smile himself, "We should get ready soon, there is a monster waiting for us to be hunted."

* * *

 

"What are we hunting anyway?" Prompto sighed, swatting another mosquito off his arm, "I mean, the people in town just said it's huge and destroys stuff, now that could be anything."

"And it sure is something and that's why we're here looking for it," Ignis said, not even bothering to turn his head to the blond, "Though I agree, it isn't our usual kind of hunt."

"Way more interesting like this if you ask me," Gladio had taken the lead on their hike, eyes seemingly everywhere, looking for tracks. He enjoyed their scavenger hunt visibly.

"At least one of us is having fun," the blond mumbled under his breath, earning an amused scoff from Noctis next to him. The two of them had fallen back a bit, tired of trying to keep up with the shield's speed and zigzagging between the trees.

Suddenly, Gladio stopped dead in his tracks and crouched down to inspect something on the ground. "Found something?" Ignis asked, walking up next to him, still leaving some space between them to not disturb anything.

"Warmer trail than the last ones," Gladio said, pointing up to the trees. Tufts of reddish brown fur hung from some branches and there were imprints of something resembling big paws. Prompto still stared up to the fur, not feeling like joking anymore. This thing was big alright, bigger than he had expected.

"Behemoth?" Ignis asked, cocking his head while he looked at the prints.

"Thought so too, but the prints aren't right. Not to mention the fur, I've never seen a brown behemoth," the brute got back up and turned a bit to follow the tracks deeper into the woods, much to the other's dismay. Like a bloodhound tracking a scent, Gladio was all over the place, not bothering to see if the others were able to keep up or not. Ignis was about to call out to him, tell him to slow down, when the larger man slid to a sudden halt again, arms outstretched to sign the others to stop as well.

Ahead of them was a clearing. Floating there were two Niflheim battleships with their bay doors open, soldiers scattered around the clearing and between them, sitting huge and hunched something that could resemble a behemoth if not for the mechanical jaw and pieces of machinery sticking out through the thick fur. When it slowly lifted its large head, Prompto gasped softly.

"Did they...make this? O-or was this a real animal before?"

"Guessing a bit of both," Ignis said, crouching down next to Gladio, who was inching a bit closer to get a better view of the scenery in front of them.

"They're not too far away from each other, if I warp in, I-"

"No warping in, Noct," Ignis sharp voice interrupted him, "Even if you manage to get a few of them, they will open fire within an instant, not to mention this monstrosity."

"So what else do you suggest?"

A sly grin flashed over the adviser's face and he changed his position a bit to face the two younger men. "Actually I was thinking about a nice big explosion to create a bit of a confusion. If we manage to hit at least one of the ships this might do most of the work for us."

A huge grin plastered itself on Prompto's face upon hearing this and he leaned a bit forward, attention fully on Ignis. "What do we have to do?"

Noctis scoffed at the blond's sudden eagerness but leaned forward as well, with growing interest on what his adviser had planned.

* * *

 

Prompto took a few deep breaths and fiddled with his modified machinery weapon, doubtful thoughts nagging him. Would this really work? He loved to blow something up, but now that they were getting ready, he became nervous.

"Focus, Prom." He felt Noctis' hand on his shoulder and turned around to face the same direction his friend did. The raven smiled at him and turned the magic orb in his hand. It emitted a faint red glow and hummed silently, filled to the brim with the strongest fire magic, Noctis could muster. This would be a big boom.

"You with me?"

"Yah," the blond breathed out, peeking though the branches on the clearing. They had split up and circled around, Noctis and Prompto now right on the other side of the clearing, as close as they could get to do as much damage as possible. Ignis and Gladio waited on the other side to sweep in when it was time.

"We have one try on this, you ready?" Noctis made a few steps back and got ready to throw the orb, glancing over to Prompto one last time. The blond had his weapon ready, eyes fixed on a point in the air where he had to hit, offering just a silent nod so he wouldn't lose focus.

'Don't mess this up,' the raven thought to himself, his hand tightening around the orb. When he heard the mechanic whirring next to him, indicating that Prompto had started his weapon, he hauled the orb over.

For a moment, time slowed down as he watched it fly, his own heartbeat resonated in his ears, but he dared not to move, not wanting to interrupt the blond next to him. He didn't even hear when Prompto released his shot, only saw the fire spell erupt when it was hit with an explosive shot.

Blinded, he ducked behind a tree and listened to the screeching of hot metal as one of the battleships went down. The monster roared in pain and jumped away from the fire and they heard shots.

"Shit, are they already at it?" Prompto stumbled to his feet and ran along the edge of the clearing to get a better look of everything. Finally, he saw Ignis and Gladio, systematically taking out the soldiers that managed to get away from the explosion. The other ship was still hovering in place and it seemed...parked – he couldn't think of a better word for it. A blue bolt of light flitting through the flames indicated Noctis joining the fight and so he summoned his gun and stepped out on the clearing to help as well.

He landed a few good shots, keeping their backs free. By now the blond knew all their movements by heart. Never shoot things in front of Noctis, he might decide to warp there; time every shot right with Ignis' jumps and watch Gladio's wide swings. That's why he was back there, firing guns. He always had everything in his sight. Except…

He lowered his gun and scanned over the fight in front of him again. There was fire, soldiers, his friends, one destroyed battleship…

"Where is the big thing?"

* * *

 

Gladio made a few steps back to leave a bit more space for Noctis to move, the prince warping to the next enemy right after the shield had made his steps. They were working through the remaining soldiers without bigger issues and Gladio was starting to feel victorious, when he stopped mid-swing, eyes gliding over to the burning battleship. Yeah, there was that, the thing came down and wouldn't be back up ever again. The deafening roar to his left made his heart drop and now he knew what he had missed. At first he thought the monster had been caught in the inferno as well, possibly already killed. But there was noting but burned ground and the battleship's skeleton.

His head whipped around to see where the others were and he saw Noctis just a few yards away from him, Ignis even further away. Another roar and the clanking of metallic joints moving and his feet acted on their own. Summoning hie shield, Gladio sprinted over to the prince, grabbing him around the waist he threw both of them to the ground and held the shield over the prince protectively.

Just in time.

A strong gust of air and the thudding of a heavy body hitting the ground indicated that the beast had already been in the motion to jump them. It growled, the sound reminding them more of a machine than an actual animal.

Both got to their feet, never taking their eyes away from the hybrid. The spell had hit. Most of its fur was scorched black or even gone completely, showing either leathery skin or metallic parts sticking out. Everything was charred and it made the thing look even more disgusting.

The remaining few soldiers were completely forgotten and even they didn't dare to move too much, all eyes were on the beast. Eyes still fixated on the prince and his shield, it lowered its body like a cat getting ready to jump its prey. Gladio ducked a bit as well, readying his body for what was to come.

"No time for hangups now," he growled, as he heard Noctis take a few slow steps back and change his weapon with the faint sound of shattering glass.

"I don't plan to."

Gladio nodded and lowered his sword, the broad side up, never breaking eye contact with the beast. Noctis' steps behind him slowly wandered to his side again, closer to the sword until he had one foot on it.

The whole clearing was eerily silent except for the crackling of the fire and the sound of working gears inside the monster's body. All the more louder was the sound of three consecutive gunshots being fired echoing through it. All of them hit their mark, the head of the beast. They didn't do much damage, but now it shifted its attention over to their source, the blond still standing quite a bit away.

"Now!" Gladio yelled and Noctis made the last step onto the sword and with a grunt the brute heaved both up, successfully catapulting the prince high above the monster. Before it could walk too far away, Ignis shot up from the spot he had been hiding when he saw it running towards them, and sprinted to its hind legs. His hopes to immobilize it weren't too high and when he hit one of the legs with is spear and felt more than heard the sound of metal hitting metal reverberating through his bones, his doubts were confirmed.

But what this move did was make the monster stop again and attempt to turn to the next thing pestering it. It never finished the move. Noctis, his own broadsword lifted above his head, came swooping down, hitting it right in the back of the neck. With a gargled howl, the beast went down, legs flailing through the air as it tried to get back up again.

The tail lashed out, hitting the remaining battleship, bringing it down as well, then the body stopped moving.

Noctis had warped to safety in time and turned his head, when he felt Ignis' hand on his shoulder. The adviser looked tired and worn, but a smile tucked at the corner of his mouth.

"That was a nice plan," the prince said, wiping the back of his hand over his brow, "A bit chaotic at the end, though. But nice."

"Why thank you, Your Highness," Ignis answered, slightly bowing his head and visibly amused.

Gladio had let out a victorious yell, when the monster finally went down and walked now closer to inspect Niflheim's newest invention, curiosity taking over. Rolling thunder had him look up at the darkening sky. A storm was coming their way and the smell of rain became stronger by the minute. Wouldn't be too bad with the flames already lapping at the edges of the clearing and the body of the beast. Was he imagining it or was there a slight tremor running through the body?

Deep breaths, in and out. Like he had been told, this was the best way to stay calm. Prompto knew what they were up as soon as Gladio began lowering his blade. Everything else was teamwork, everyone knew their place. First get its attention over to Prompto so Gladio could throw Noctis up, next was Ignis so the beast wouldn't just walk away when Noct was still in the air. Then the killing strike. They had done this more than once, it always was successful...right?

"No," the blond whispered, slightly shaking his head, "Too far to the right." He swallowed roughly against the developing lump in his throat. "Noct was...too far to the right."

Finally waking up from his numbness, he first made only a few hesitant steps to remind his legs of their purpose. He saw Gladio stepping close to the thing, inspecting its head, then looking up to the impending storm.

"Gladio."

His walk became faster, his eyes were still on the monster. It was a minimal move, like it was taking a deep, shallow breath.

"Gladio!"

The jaw, metallic bones and teeth charred from the flames, twitched. His walk became a full on sprint. Ignis and Noct were oblivious to what was happening, the adviser inspecting the prince for injuries.

It wasn't over. The thing wasn't dead yet, why does nobody see?

Gladio was leaning forward, looking at something. He saw the movements. Why was he still there?

"Gladio!" Prompto screamed now, finally getting his attention.

"Not dead, Gladio, get away from the head!"

It would be too late, his reaction would be too slow. He was too close.

Blood was pumping in the blond's ears and his body now acted on instinct. Its neck was broken, but the thing wasn't normal so the movements would be different. He just had to time it right.

Letting the adrenaline work for him, he made it over to the shield, everything around him seemed to slow down. The big head turning in a way no real thing would be able to and the jaws opening, Gladio's eyes widening in the realization. Then he was between them.

He didn't know if he was shouting something or not, just that he gave Gladio a hard push, making the surprised brute stumble backwards. Hearing metallic clanking, he closed his eyes, readying himself for the pain that would come, but he could be as ready as he wanted, it was nothing compared to the real thing. The jaws closed, he felt teeth piercing though his skin, locking him in place. Pain waved through his body as he screamed, it was excruciating. He felt himself being lifted up, then the world around him was only a wild mix of colors as he got jostled around, only making the pain worse. Then nothing. For a few liberating seconds there was absolutely nothing but the whistling of air in his ears and movement everywhere around him. Everything came back full force when he hit the ground again.

"Shit, shit, SHIT!" From the second it happened, he knew, he would never forget this picture. He saw that the monster had started moving again ever so slightly, but wasn't completely sure if this was for real or just his imagination, a trick of the light, his tired eyes, burning from the heat. No, this had been for real. But he only realized that when Prompto appeared in front of him, pushing him backwards.

Gladio managed to stay on his feet but what difference would it make? He saw the big head turn, the jaws closing around the blond's body, heard his scream.

The beast got on its feet again, looking even more mangled than before. The head was tilting to one side, only still connected with its body by some wire and metal strips. It began shaking its head, shaking Prompto like a dog does with its favourite toy. Then it let go, sent his friend flying through the air and hitting the ground again, now motionless and silent.

The shield couldn't care less about the monster after what he witnessed and was already sprinting over to Prompto, falling on his knees next to him. His hands hovered over the blond's body, not sure if it was safe to touch him, when a loud crack of thunder made his head whip around again.

"Wha-" he gasped. The clouds were moving. But not like they were before, now it looked like waves on a stormy ocean, building up more and more and veins of lightning crawling through it. Realizing what was happening, his gaze wandered down and he saw Noctis standing there, still like a statue. And even from this far away Gladio could see the purple glow in the prince's eyes.

Ignis next to him was gesturing to Gladio, mouthing something. That was when all the noise and everything else rushed back to the shield. He had to function now. Nothing else.

'Haven' That was what Ignis was saying, urging him to go there. They still had some potions left. Breathing out sharply, he picked Prompto up from the ground, wincing then the blond moaned in pain. At least he was now sure that he wasn't dead yet.

"This will be a bumpy ride, bud," he said, adjusting his position a bit so he could hold him properly, then he started running.

The rain started when he was between the trees and he prayed to the six not to slip. He felt Prompto's breath against his neck, hitching every time he had to make a small jump over some branches or roots. Even with the wetness of the rain he felt warm liquid on his chest and arms that definitely wasn't rain and it was only making him run faster.

He sped up even more when he saw the faint blue glow of the haven through the thick curtain of rain, earning another pained whimper. "Can't slow down now, I'm sorry."

Another gasp and weakened whimper.

"Don't you dare leave now," Gladio growled, sounding more aggressive than he had intended, "Not now, not after this stunt, ya hear me? Don't!"

Except for the glowing runes, it was now nearly pitch black and felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane. For a moment the thought crossed his mind, to look over where the clearing was, maybe catch a glimpse or Ramuh's giant shape in the sky. No, not now. Not with Prompto bleeding out.

After lying the blond on the ground, he puled up his soaked shirt to see how many wounds he had, but it was too dark to see enough and Prompto's body was already covered with blood, making it near impossible to see anything with the lack of light.

Leaning a bit forward, he patted Prompto's cheek, hoping to get a reaction out of him. "Prom? Prom, you still with me? C'mon!"

The blond's face scrunched up and he opened his mouth a bit, but nothing came out. Good enough. "Stay with me, buddy, just a few minutes more." He got up again and ran over to their packs and, not even trying to waste time by digging though them, turned them over, scattering their contents on the ground until he found what he was looking for. A loud crack made his ears ring and for a few seconds everything was light as day. Ramuh had worked his magic. And even helped Gladio in that process, who easily found the potion lying on the now illuminated ground.

Prompto was completely still when he pressed the potion in his hand and Gladio cursed. "I said 'Don't', ya idiot," he hissed and closed his hand around Prompto's, to help the blond crush the vial. Praying inwardly, he watched the potion work though his body, closing the gashes and healing his inner wounds. The bigger gashes didn't close all the way, it was just too much for a single potion, but it stopped the bleeding and healed up the worst, and that worked for now for Gladio.

When the green hue was gone, he took off his jacket, wrapped it around Prompto and held him close to his chest, listening intently. For a scary moment he heard nothing and felt a pit in his stomach. But then he heard it, the faint breathing, slowly getting stronger and he couldn't help but smile.

"There you go, buddy. Don't scare me like that," he sighed and finally allowed his body to relax, never letting go of Prompto.

The rain had thinned to a light drizzle after the Ramuh's attack and eventually stopped completely and the clouds moved along the sky like thin grey sheep, the violet light of the dawn peeking though more and more. Gladio raised his head when he heard steps. Two sets, one pair shuffling a bit more than the other.

"You two alright?" he asked without turning around.

"I think you can say that." Ignis' voice was a bit strained and Gladio finally turned his head. Both looked a bit frazzled and like they had been caught in Ramuh's lightning as well, but other than that they seemed fine.

"Prompto," Noctis croaked, falling to his knees next to him, "How is he? It looked like-"

"He'll live," the shield interrupted, not wanting to think of that moment ever again. "Made it in time and he's breathing alright. But I only found one potion and he might need at least one more. Think you can look for another one?"

"I'll see what I can find."

"Thanks, Iggy."

* * *

 

Prompto groaned. His whole body felt sore. What happened? He tried to turn to his side, but only made it halfway there before his muscled refused to work for him. With another weak groan, he gave up and just stayed in this uncomfortable position, this would be his life now, apparently.

He wasn't sure if he fell asleep again for a moment or if no time had passed, but suddenly he heard shuffling around him, low voices talking in a hushed tone, he couldn't understand them. Managing to crack one eye open, he first saw only blue until he realized that he stared at the canvas of their tent. He heard someone move behind him, but his body still ached too much to move.

"Ay," he croaked, trying to get the attention of whoever was behind him. More shuffling, then a face came into view. "Gladdy," he forced out, making the lager man smile.

"Welcome back, Prom. Feel any better?"

"Wha' happened?" he asked, his tongue not yet fully cooperative. Gladio frowned at that question.

"You don't remember? The hunt? Niffs, that...this monster-robot-hybrid?"

The blond was silent for a moment, trying to make his head work normally again, then he gasped, when the pictures came flooding back. Right. That happened really. He pulled one arm out from the thick layer of blankets he was put under and pointed at Gladio.

"Saw it happenin'. That it would move again, No-Noct din't hit it right. Man, I..." he started laughing, "I totally saved your ass there. Took one for the team and nearly got eaten by a mecha-behemoth."

Gladio scoffed and raised his eyebrows. Prompto seemed really proud of what he did now. Well, why shouldn't he. "Yeah," he sighed and ruffled his blond mat of hair, "Ya did. And damn, I'm thankful, alright? Might have been not so lucky if it had gotten me. So yeah. Thank you."

He gave Gladio a thumbs up. "No problem, big guy. But..."

"But?"

"Promise me something?"

"What?"

"Let's never do that again."


	2. I'm not okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dear Cindy,  
> Man, Noct really messed up. I mean, he saved Gladio's ass and all, but now he's sick and we don't have a remedy, Iggy is really mad...I hope Noct feels better when he's slept a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by: [Elillierose](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Elillierose/works)  
> (Her [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) and my [Tumblr](http://freaky-trickster.tumblr.com/))

"I hate bugs."

"Enough already, we heard you the first three times."

"Whaddaya say, Gladdy? You didn't hear me? I friggin' hate bugs," Prompto groaned as he fired another round at one of the killer wasps. "I despise them." Another shot. "I detest them." Shot. "I loathe them...and now I'm out of words, but they're still hideous."

"I swear, next time we fight things like this, I'll tape your mouth shut," Gladio huffed as he rammed his sword in the ground to support himself. He was visibly annoyed. Not so much by the gunner but more because he was pretty close to useless against these foes. His wide and heavy swings may be strong but not for enemies as these, too fast and always flying up and out of reach for him. Tossing his broadsword helped a little bit, but most times these things even dodged that, it was like trying to swat a fly. You had to sneak up to them and hit them at the exact right time or they see you and just zip away.

"Damn bugs."

This made the blond laugh. "I hear frustration there, big guy?"

"Well I am frustrated, alright? Now stop grinning and let me be angry in peace."

With that he yanked his sword back up to join the fight again, mainly shielding Noctis whenever the prince decided to pause the warping for a moment in order to catch his breath.

It would have been less annoying if it wasn't for the fact, that those things tend to spray poisoned clouds everywhere. Noctis kept warping back and forth to the point even he became a tad dizzy from it. He tried to damage their wings, to make them fall down so the others could finish them off but that was easier said than done because these bastards just wouldn't stay in one place long enough.

"Heads up, big guy," he called out to Gladio as he rendered another one of the pests flightless. The brute turned around and finished it off before it could even touch the ground and Noctis landed behind him, slightly out of breath. "When will it end," he huffed in annoyance.

He readied himself to warp up again, when he heard buzzing getting louder behind them. Turning around, it looked like Gladio had gotten insect wings for a moment and it would have been hilarious, but he knew what was about to happen. He reached out blindly, catching a fistful of fabric what he hoped was Gladio's jacket and yanked it back.

The larger man stumbled past him with a grunt and Noctis made a jump forward to strike the monster before it could do anything, but he already knew he fucked up as the air around him became thick and green. Aborting his slash, he covered his nose and mouth with his free hand, but he knew it was futile and already too late. He could taste the bitter poison on his tongue. How much had he breathed in?

He ducked when he heard shots going off close to him and was about to blindly attack the wasp which he guessed was right in front of him, when a hand gripped his collar from behind and pulled him backwards. Stumbling alongside whoever had pulled him out, he kept holding his breath and his hand where it was until Ignis' voice was audible through the commotion, asking him if he was alright.

Noctis instantly pulled his hand away, knowing that the air around him now wasn't smelling like death itself anymore and took a few deep gulps of air. "Noct, can you hear me?" Ignis again. Noctis nodded, still too occupied with breathing to use his voice. Thinking about it, it tasted slightly ashy, but the fact that they were pretty close to Mount Ravatogh could explain that. Still better than the taste of the poison, which still lingered on his tongue, no matter how much he swallowed.

"Water," he croaked and Ignis – seemingly always worried that they could dehydrate at any second - pulled out a small bottle before Noct could say anything else.

"Did you breathe anything in?" Ignis asked after Noct was done nearly emptying the bottle and gave it back to the adviser.

The raven shook his head and took another steadying breath. "I'm good," he lied, "Held my breath just in time, don't worry." Not waiting for a reaction from his adviser, the prince turned and went back to get rid of the pests once and for all. Ignis' gaze boring into his back was kinda hard to ignore, but he did his best. He didn't feel bad after he had a drink so maybe he was lucky and hadn't breathed in enough, so why bother with it.

* * *

"You saved my ass back there, Noct, gotta thank you," Gladio said, roughly patting the prince's shoulder, "But, please don't try to kill yourself in the process next time, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Noctis shrugged the hand off his shoulder and turned away from him, wanting to evade the question that was about to come, but it was too late for that.

"You okay, though?" the shield asked, oblivious to the eye roll.

"I'm okay, leave me alone already, you're starting to sound like Specs."

"Hah. Hear that, Iggy?" Gladio laughed, he and Noctis now catching up with the other two on their way back to where they parked the car. "I'm starting to get the hang of this mother hen-thing you're doing."

"I'm doing what exactly?"

"Aah...nothing. Forget it."

"Don't steal my favourite hobby from me, please, Gladio."

Noctis laughed softly at their bickering, letting himself fall back a bit. He still felt a bit dizzy but chalked it up to the excessive warping he did. It had to be. He was okay. Just tired, but he was okay.

For a few minutes he actually believed himself. He kept listening to his friends arguing about what to eat later, he heard Prompto whining about wanting to sleep in a hotel, Gladio talking about camping…why was his vision swimming so much?

"Not okay," he whispered, not loud enough for the others to hear. He rubbed his eyes violently to clear his vision again, but it barely worked. Why did his head feel so hot all of a sudden. When his legs felt like they were about to give in, he eventually stopped and tried to call out to the others, not sure if their names ever left his lips. He must have made some noise though, because the next thing he heard was Ignis' voice close to him, but he could barely make out his words.

"I think I'm not okay."

He wasn't entirely sure if his legs gave in or if someone picked him up, everything became a blur of indistinguishable colours and noises and his feet definitely weren't on the ground anymore. Disoriented, he panicked for a moment, limbs flailing while trying to find something to hold onto, but he calmed down again, when he felt arms around him tightening a bit and a gruff voice saying something. So someone did pick him up.

"I'm not okay," he breathed out again, still not sure if they could hear him, but it was the only thing he could think about right now, "I'm not okay."

* * *

"I would still prefer driving to the next rest area to take proper care of him."

"Which is over an hour away and it's dark, I don't want daemons on our asses when we're all tired and down one man."

Ignis sighed and adjusted his glasses for possibly the hundredth time before hovering over Noctis again. He knew Gladio was right, though he didn't quite want to admit it. "I asked him if he breathed something in and he said he didn't. How could he do something that irresponsible."

"I can hear you, y'know," Noctis replied weakly. His eyes were still closed but he had turned his head slightly towards them, his face showing clear discomfort. Ignis swallowed some more harsh words that were itching to get out. Not now. "How are you feeling?" he asked instead, a hand already on Noctis' forehead to feel his temperature.

"Like shit," the raven growled, prying one eye open to look at his adviser. Everything was blurry and when he wasn't really able to make out Ignis' face, he closed it again. His head was throbbing violently by now and he just wanted to curl up and sleep. Or die. Whatever would come first.

Ignis slowly exhaled through his nose. "His fever is getting worse already," he mumbled, motioning for Gladio to ready a wet cloth. The larger understood and turned around to do what he was asked for, while Ignis unscrewed a water bottle. "Noct," he said in a calm voice and slid a hand under the raven's head. "I want you to drink something. It is important that you stay hydrated."

With an annoyed groan, Noctis let Ignis help him sit up and even without opening his eyes he felt the world around him turn in a way it shouldn't. He wasn't in the mood to drink anything, wasn't even sure if he would be able to keep it down. But Ignis wouldn't have any of it and soon he felt the opening of the bottle slightly pressing against his lips.

"Noct," the brunet called out to him once more, earning another small groan, "I will leave you alone after this but I ask you to at least drink some of it."

This made Noctis open his eyes. A sliver of fogged over dark blue peeked though dark eyelashes at the adviser. "Promise?" he croaked. Ignis nearly missed this, but a snort behind him indicated that Prompto didn't. Giving the blond a warning glance over the shoulder, he sighed deeply and gave the prince a short nod. "Yes, I promise."

He tried to hold the bottle himself, but it nearly slipped his grip and he reluctantly accepted Ignis helping him, taking small sips until he turned his head, indicating that he had enough. It wasn't as much as Ignis had hoped he'd drink, but it had to suffice for now and so he guided Noctis back into a lying position.

The raven took no time to turn on his side and curl up, burying his face in his pillow in the process. After maybe just a minute, his breaths evened out a bit and he was obviously asleep.

"It's the best we can do for now," Gladio finally said, breaking the silence, "It doesn't seem too bad. Let him ride through it over the night and he might even be better by tomorrow."

Reluctantly, Ignis nodded. The symptoms of the poison were there, but not as strong as they could be, so he assumed that Noctis really hadn't breathed in enough to be in too much danger. Hopefully.

Sleep didn't come as easy to the adviser and every huff and rustle coming from where Noctis was sleeping made him perk up again, holding his breath for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. Growing annoyed with his own behavior, the adviser forced himself to calm down and relax. It was hard and took him a good while, but eventually, he felt sleep pulling him into blissful nothingness.

* * *

It was way too warm. Feeling beads of sweat trickle down his face and back, Noctis tried to kick cover away to feel less restricted, only to get his legs tangled in it to the point where he wasn't able to pull them out anymore. With a small groan he rolled on his back to try again, not wanting to open his eyes. But even without doing so, he felt like everything was spinning way too fast and nausea came soon after. For a moment he tried to take deep breaths, breathing through it, hoping it would subside again after a minute or so. Not this time though.

His eyes snapped open and he scrambled to the tent's entrance. Just in time, he managed to open the door flap and crawled outside, blanket still wrapped around one ankle, to throw up right next to the tent. The word still spun around him in all the wrong ways and dark spots obscured his vision and for a second, he feared he'd pass out. That as when he felt a hand on his back, seconds later another one on his forehead, holding his hair back. Exhaling shakily, he leaned his head against the cool hand and closed his eyes for a moment. Whoever was there with him waited patiently, holding him up for as long as he needed to. He heaved one more time but there already wasn't much inside him anymore that could come out, and so he leaned against the other and accepted being carefully pushed into a sitting position.

Noctis' first movements didn't wake the adviser right away, only pulled him a bit out of his deep sleep, but as soon as the hectic shuffling started, his senses came fully back to him and he shot up and followed the prince outside. The noises woke up the other two as well and Ignis saw their sleepy faces peeking out of the tend from the corner of his eye, while he supported Noctis so he wouldn't fall over.

"Uh...", Prompto said, swallowing thickly. The noises made his stomach churn. "I feel sick now, too..."

Ignis' head whipped back and he glared at the blond, making him slightly duck behind Gladio. "Don't you dare," the brunet hissed, without sounding really angry, he was too tired for being mad at Prompto as well as caring for another sick comrade.

Gladio hummed in amusement and pushed Prompto back into the tent. "Let's go back to bed, blondie, no need to stress poor Iggy any more," the brute said, watching the blond crawl back to his place, only slightly complaining about that comment. Before he got back himself, he turned around again for a moment. "You got this?"

Ignis gave him a short nod, "We will be alright, you get some more rest." Gladio nodded and vanished back into the tent as well, leaving Ignis alone with the raven, who still seemed to be a bit out of it. He felt the heat radiating off him and the dampness of his clothes and quickly decided, first he had to change.

"Noct," he said, giving the younger man a light pat on the shoulder, "Do you think you can stand up for a moment?" Noctis groaned but complied and let Ignis help him to his feet and together they walked over to the chairs so he could sit in one of them. When the prince wasn't in any danger of walling over anymore, sitting slumped in the chair, Ignis crouched down a bit, looking for eye contact. "Noct, I will be back in a moment," he said, "Do you understand? I will get a dry shirt for you to change and then we will go back inside." He had to wait a moment, before the information fully arrived in Noctis' head, but then the raven nodded weakly, grimacing as his head throbbed painfully again from the movement.

When Ignis left his sight, Noctis slowly raised his hands and rubbed both palms over his face a few times, eventually wandering more upwards to comb his fingers through his hair. It felt grimy and damp and overall gross, making him huff in disgust. He hated when his hair felt like that. Letting his hands fall in his lap, he looked around for a moment. He wasn't sure what time it was but it was still dark and there was no sign of the sun, so he assumed it was about midnight. Behind him, Ignis shuffled through their bags in search of something dry for Noctis to wear, that and the wind rustling in the trees were about the only noises he could hear.

Actually...when he moved slowly enough it was kinda alright. And, when another gust of wind ruffled his hair, he closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the coolness on his skin. When he felt a presence nearby, he opened his eyes again to see Ignis next to him, holding a new shirt out for him.

Ignoring the shirt, he looked up at the adviser. "Can we stay out here?"

Ignis' mouth formed a thin line and for a moment, both stared at each other in utter silence. The outstretched hand still remained where it was and Ignis closed his eyes with a sigh. "Change," he then said, "I will get a blanket." Satisfied, Noctis took the shirt and Ignis vanished to somewhere behind him again.

Changing wasn't as easy as he'd thought and even though he stayed sitting in his chair, he tilted dangerously to one side for a moment when his surroundings started warping from him moving too much. His hand instantly wandered up to cover his mouth as a bitter taste spread on his tongue and he closed his eyes and waited for the violent throbbing in his head and the nausea to subside. New beads of sweat formed on his forehead and he felt a hand on his arm but for now, he stayed where he was, not wanting to move.

"Noct?" Ignis' worried voice was audible through the rushing in his ears and Noctis slightly lifted his other hand to show that he had heard him.

"Just a sec..." he said, voice muffled through his hand. Slowly, he tried to take a few deep breaths and then even more; gradually, it actually worked and he eventually trusted his body enough to open his eyes again. "I'm good," the raven said and leaned back in his chair, adding a mumbled "...for now." when he felt Ignis' piercing gaze on him. Awkwardly, he looked away and stretched out his legs.

"I'll...just stay here and don't move."

Ignis raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything and after giving the blanket to the prince, he sat down on the chair next to him. Noctis fumbled with the blanket until it was draped over his legs. The cool night air was too nice to fully hide under the warm cover. Maybe later.

It was silent between them for endless minutes, the raven enjoying the nice air cooling him down while Ignis was lost in his own thoughts.

"Sorry, I guess," Noctis mumbled, sliding a bit farther down into his chair.

Caught a bit off guard, Ignis turned his head to look at the younger man. "What do you-"

"You know what I mean," the raven interrupted him, "For the lie? For saying I was okay when I really wasn't? Stop looking at me like that."

Ignis turned his eyes away, gazing over the dark terrain. Something moved between the trees, the adviser guessed it were Goblins, but it was too far away to tell exactly.

"It would have been Gladio if I hadn't done something. I was...kinda hoping to be fast enough to pull him away and kill it before it sprays the poison everywhere."

An amused smile tugged at the corner of Ignis' mouth, seeing Noctis shifting in the corner of his eye. But he kept his gaze on some point in the darkness, his chin resting in his right hand. "Didn't turn out that good, did it?" he said, perfectly hiding his amusement, making the raven groan in annoyance.

"Yeah...I guess..." he sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, "I just...You'd have called off the hunt if I told you. I was good for the moment and thought I hadn't breathed in enough for it to actually do something and we were nearly done and I thought, maybe I would make it to the hotel before something happens, or-"

"Noct."

"What."

"You're rambling."

"Who wouldn't?"

Ignis hummed, not hiding his smile anymore which made Noctis glare at him, cheeks slightly flushed and he wasn't sure if that was only the fever right now.

"You are mad at me because of that, aren't you?"

The adviser leaned back in his chair and looked over to the prince. "I am indeed, to be honest," he said calmly, "So, what will we do about it?"

Noctis looked away, chewing on his lip for a moment while working through what he wanted to say in his head. "That's...why I'm apologizing. I'm sorry. That was stupid."

Silence. Ignis patiently looked at the younger, waiting for him to go on and secretly enjoying how he cringed nervously under his stern gaze.

Noctis wasn't sure what more Ignis wanted to hear from him and it drove him crazy to be just silently looked at. 'Why can't he just get angry like normal people,' he thought and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I, um..." he said, not able to decide where he should look and eventually managed to actually look at the brunet, "Next time I'll tell you. That what you wanna hear?"

Finally, Ignis nodded. "That was it. Thank you, Noct."

"Will you stop looking at me like that now?"

Chuckling lightly, Ignis gave another nod and turned away again, to look at the stars. "I'd still like you to sleep a bit more, you might be out of the worst, but still not completely through with it yet."

"It's too warm in the tent, I wanna stay outside," the raven was already getting more comfortable in his chair, ignoring Ignis' not too happy look.

"I can't make you rethink that, can I?"

"Nope. But you can stay with me if you want."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so, I still take requests! So if you wanna make a wish to me – ASK! Pm me, ask in the comments or send an ask on my tumblr and we can talk it through. 
> 
> Just a few things for you to know about:  
> \- Setting doesn’t matter! Kingsglaive, main game or during brotherhood(or earlier), I don’t care  
> \- All characters work! Of course, I know some better than others, but if you want someone other than a chocobro, I don’t mind and will try my best. It’s a nice adventure and practice for me. :D  
> \- I will do most genres. I’m best with angsty stuff and hurt/comfort, but if you want something else, sure. Would even do romance, just tell me if you want a ship you like in there. But please don’t ask for anything x-rated, I’m too awkward to write stuff like that  
> \- I also won’t do things with OCs or reader insert. It’s not my thing and I would mess it up, I’m sorry.  
> \- Please, if possible, refrain from sending Anon asks on tumblr, if you don’t want your name to be shown that’s fully okay, just tell me and I won’t do it! That’s just for me and my organization, so I won’t have four requests for the same person.  
> \- Only one request per person, until that request is done. Then you can make another one if you want.  
> \- Also please note: I'm a slow writer! There are requests and my own stories waiting in line, so it may take a good while, so I ask for patience, I will do my very best to not take too long.


	3. Trained by the best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dear Grandpa,  
> I really miss you...but I didn' write you for the sad talk. I finally did it. I asked Gladio and Prompto to help me become stronger. It will be hard but then I won't be weak anymore. For you and for Prince Noctis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is for Talcott fan! I hope you like it!
> 
> Beta read by: [Elillierose](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Elillierose/works)  
> (Her [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) and my [Tumblr](http://freaky-trickster.tumblr.com/))

The crackling of fire and sounds of a guitar was all he heard when he woke up. The notes were off-key, but not as bad as they were a few days ago. He was getting better.

Smiling to himself, Talcott opened his eyes and looked over to where the music came. Prompto sat cross-legged on the other side of the campfire, playing a random made up melody, tip of his tongue sticking out between his lips in concentration.

 

He stopped playing when Talcott sat up.

“Did I wake ya?”

“No, don’t worry. It’s actually kinda soothing. You’ve gotten better.”

“You think?” Prompto laughed. He got interrupted by a scoff behind him and turned around to look at Gladio, who was lying on his back and stared at the dark sky. “Something to say, big guy? You don’t think I got better?”

The brute sighed and sat up. “Oh you got better,” he chuckled, “better at keeping me awake.” There was no anger in his words, but still, Prompto fake-threw something at him and he ducked, laughing.

“Used to all the nature sounds and daemons growling about, but can’t sleep with music. What’s wrong with you?”

 

“Shut up, blondie, keep practicing.” He ruffled Prompto’s hair when he passed him and sat down with them by the fire.

For a while, none of them spoke. Talcott stared off into the distance, following a few small shadows creeping along the treeline with his eyes. It had been hard when the sun went down and just...didn’t come up again. The darkness left everyone disoriented and scared, but as the years went by, they adapted. First, of course, were the hunters, and as soon as he was able to, Talcott had joined them. He wanted to help, never wanted to feel so useless again like on the day his grandfather died.

 

“Hey guys, can...can I ask you something?”

“What’s up, kiddo?” Gladio looked up from his hands, blinking a few times to clear his vision. He really should correct his sleeping pattern, but that wasn’t as easy when it was dark all the time.

Talcott chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, going through what he wanted to ask them for quite a long time. “Can you train me?”

 

The strumming stopped when Prompto’s hand froze and he looked up. Both stared at him in disbelief and Talcott felt a pang of regret about asking.

“Where does that come from?” Gladio sounded surprised, “Dave’s gang didn’t train you enough?”

“Oh they did, alright,” the younger man scratched the back of his neck, “but...you guys...man, you are a class above all this. I saw you fight, you barely even break a sweat against some daemons fighting on your own, when the same thing needs five or more hunters to be killed. I wanna be better than that. I...” he sighed deeply when unwanted memories surfaced for a moment, “I don’t want to be weak again.”

 

Prompto chewed on his lip and looked down. They both knew what Talcott meant, what he was thinking and they weren’t sure how to say it without hurting him. After all, they both felt responsible for what happened to Jared too. When the silence was close to driving him crazy, Gladio worked up the nerve to talk again.

“Thing is...we got trained differently. I started Crownsguard training when I was a child, Prom even got trained by Cor for a bit-”

“But he only taught him the basics, right?” Talcott interrupted, “He said he learned everything else on the journey.”

Gladio cut his eyes over to the blond, the latter wincing barely visible when he felt the brute’s gaze. He wasn’t mad, who would have thought that this would be used against them one day, but right now it was an inconvenience.

 

“You don’t want to,” Talcott sighed in defeat.

“It’s not that,” Gladio shook his head, trying to explain. That wasn’t what he meant but, thinking about it, it sure sounded like it was. “Not that we don’t want to train you but, we don’t want to hurt you. Would there be more time we could-”

“But there is enough time.”

Gladio bit his tongue. That was the second time the kid interrupted him.

“There was enough time to reinforce Hammerhead, to recruit people that wanted to fight with us, even for Prompto learning to play guitar.”

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment, there, okay?”

“You-you can, yeah, but what I mean is, I can do it. I’m sure I can, I’m one of the best, Dave said he’s never seen anyone learn so fast. Please, Gladio! Prompto?”

 

Prompto chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked at Gladio, the look in his eyes similar to Talcott’s. The brute sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “You two,” he growled, not sounding annoyed, but rather amused, “You’re such a pain, y’know that.”

* * *

The haven they were at wasn’t that big, but when their stuff was moved aside it was enough to move around. They chose to stick to hand to hand combat because both Prompto and Gladio were worried about actually hurting the younger man. This was okay with Talcott, he was pumped. Proud that he had finally asked them and excited for what was coming.

 

Gladio was first to face him and Talcott was already shaking in anticipation. He had watched both of them multiple times when they trained, sometimes when they were fighting a daemon. With his big and heavy sword and wide swings, he may be strong but also rather slow. Being significantly smaller than the brute, this would be his advantage. He was sure to surprise the larger man enough with his speed to catch him off guard.

 

How wrong he was.

 

When Prompto gave the signal to start the fight, Talcott shot forward, seemingly starting a frontal attack. Seeing Gladio slightly tilt to one side to block him off, Talcott turned. There was his opening, the moment he could get behind him and- he let out a stifled cry when he felt a hand on the back of his vest and was yanked backwards. That couldn’t be, he was too far away to just grab him like that a second ago.

The world turned upside down for a moment and he hit the ground. Gladio’s grinning face came in sight. That didn’t go so well.

 

“C’mon, kiddo,” Gladio teased and made a beckoning hand gesture, “You already done?”

“You wish!”

Speed didn’t help, Gladio was surprisingly agile for his size, and whatever Talcott tried, the brute seemed to know what he was planning. The next time the younger man was pushed back, Gladio turned around and raised a hand. Getting up, Talcott saw Prompto coming in. The blond gave Gladio a high five and skipped on his spot, grinning at the younger man excitedly.

 

Okay, time to rethink completely. Talcott chewed on his lip. He knew Prompto was deadly over long distances, he knew that much. But now that he thought about it, he had never seen the blond fight much without his guns. And analyzing Gladio had already been an utter disappointment. He had to improvise.

 

Prompto was even faster. While Gladio just turned a little every time Talcott got a mere inch too close to him and sent him flying, the blond never held still. Dancing around Talcott, he never gave him enough time to adjust to the new circumstances, every attack was either dodged or blocked and instantly countered. It was becoming frustrating. Then it happened. It needed only one misplaced step and the blond instantly noticed this mistake. Talcott’s legs were kicked away from under him and, for the possibly twentieth time, he found himself flying flat on his back.

 

Dammit.

 

Panting, he raised a hand, waving it a little as a sign that he was giving up. He felt dizzy and just wanted to stay where he was for a bit. “Done already?” Prompto’s voice sounded out next to him, then his messy blond head came into view.

“You’re not bad, buddy”, Prompto said, slumping down next to him.

“Don’t lie, no need to sugarcoat it,” Talcott sighed. He was still waiting for his pulse to go back to normal, “I was barely able to touch you. Either of you.”

“Yeah, well that’s because you focused too much on reading us AND attacking the right way.”

Both heads turned to Gladio, who came over to join them and offer Talcott a bottle of water. “One of those things has to come naturally, or you’ll waste too much time thinking about what and how to do it, before actually doing it.”

“Never had that problem when I fought with the hunters.”

“Told’ya,” Gladio chuckled and helped the younger man to sit up, “We’re trained differently. The hunters fight as a group, rely on each other. Not a bad thing at all, but it makes fighting alone harder.”

“At least when you’re fighting a Crownsguard,” he muttered before taking a long sip, relishing in its coolness.

* * *

 

The good thing was, after their little sparring round, Gladio and Prompto both decided, that it wouldn’t hurt to teach Talcott a few tricks. Or more.

 

First things were the morning runs. Though it was relative, when they decided when ‘morning’ was and the jogs regularly turned into running for their lives because a daemon decided to try and eat them. But, Gladio tried to stay positive about that, saying that it would do wonders for their endurance. The other two weren’t too happy, but it was no denying the truth of that. They even started to taunt the monsters, made a challenge of who of them would let the daemon come the closest to before speeding away to team up with the others to overwhelm it.

 

Talcott enjoyed it. The hunters had already taught him how to use a wide range of weapons and after a little more begging, Prompto even let him use one of his guns for a few fights. Admittedly, it was harder using those than his own, felt like they were specially made only for the blond to use and the younger man gave up soon, not even thinking about trying Gladio’s swords.

 

Another improvement were their fights. Every haven they got to became another sparring ground. And Talcott spent a lot of those times on the ground, catching his breath, but he got better. There were more and more times, where he managed to catch his friends off guard and actually make them work to keep the upper hand.

 

“How many days are we doing that now?” Prompto asked, sitting down near the fire and stretching his legs.

“Twenty days,” was the straight answer from Gladio, who absentmindedly rummaged through his bag. “Pretty exact, I think.”

“Wait, you keep track?”

“Since the day Noct was pulled in, yeah.”

All three fell silent for a moment. It felt weird, even after so many years, the memory of Noctis being pulled in was still so clear. Talcott chewed on the inside of his cheek, not sure how he should react to the others’ gloomy expressions. Not that he didn’t miss Noctis, but he hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen what they had and he couldn’t even imagine how it must have felt.

He let out a startled gasp when Gladio clapped his hands together and looked over to the brute.

“What was that about?”

“We’re not done yet, buddy,” Gladio said with a smirk and got up, rolling his shoulders back a few times. A few pops sounded out with that move. “Ya might be gettin’ better, but that means no stopping now.”

Talcott was on his feet in an instant, ready to go. “I don’t plan to.”

 

With Prompto cheering on the sideline, the two of them got ready for another round. The last time they had stopped by Hammerhead, they got their hands on a couple of wooden practice swords to make things a bit more interesting, and it did indeed. It also gave mostly Talcott some nice bruises he intended to pay back some time.

 

Gladio had become more offensive by now, and soon the loud bangs of wood on wood were heard. Talcott still made use of his speed against the brute, now knowing that the larger man can be just as fast as him if he wanted to. ‘Focus on his moves, not on yours,’ he thought to himself, ducking to evade a hard swing. It was hard to get close enough to Gladio for a good attack, but persistence paid off and Talcott made it significantly harder for the big guy.

 

Eventually, Gladio bit back a curse and made a few steps back to get a bit of distance between them. Talcott was about to follow when the larger man got down on one knee, looking up to him with a mischievous smile and he felt a presence behind him.

Prompto came out of nowhere and Talcott could only dodge by throwing himself to the side. It looked far from gracious, and he stumbled back to his feet just in time to evade another swift kick. Tossing his sword to the side, he now focused on the blond. For minutes, both kept attacking and evading, never slowing down. Until the opening came. It was just a tiny stumble, this little misplaced step. And this time, it wasn’t Talcott’s mistake. Within a heartbeat, he was close to Prompto, throwing him off balance and ultimately pinning him on the ground.

 

Panting, both men just looked at each other, both surprised at how this fight had ended.

“Guys,” Gladio’s amused voice came through, “You look like you’re about to make love, should I leave, or...”

Prompto’s cheeks turned faintly red and he pushed Talcott off of him and sat up, giving Gladio a flustered look. “You sir, are a bully.”

“Nah, just honest,” Gladio chuckled and walked over to help them up. His heavy hand then landed on Talcott’s shoulder. “And that was awesome, you got Prom real good there.”

“Hate to admit it, but he’s right, that was a good one,” the blond laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

“Maybe, but,” Talcott sighed, “I still couldn’t beat you yet.”

“Maybe one day.”

 

A few minutes later the air was filled again with the crackling of fire and guitar notes. Talcott poked his fork in his food, lost in his thoughts. “You think I could ever become a Crownsguard? When Prince Noctis is back, I mean.”

“Sure, why not,” Prompto said, not stopping playing his made up melody, “They allowed me to join, so I’m positive they’d let you in too.”

Gladio nodded along with this. “There’s no reason you wouldn’t be allowed, especially with Noct being king. And, if you ask me, with what you have accomplished by now, you’re already an unofficial Crownsguard. A trainee, you could say”

“Talcott Hester; Crownsguard trainee,” Prompto said with a soft laugh, “That sound good?”

Talcott smiled. “Yeah,” he said, looking at the dark sky, “Sounds awesome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so, I still take requests! So if you wanna make a wish to me – ASK! Pm me, ask in the comments or send an ask on my tumblr and we can talk it through. 
> 
> Just a few things for you to know about:  
> \- Setting doesn’t matter! Kingsglaive, main game or during brotherhood(or earlier), I don’t care  
> \- All characters work! Of course, I know some better than others, but if you want someone other than a chocobro, I don’t mind and will try my best. It’s a nice adventure and practice for me. :D  
> \- I will do most genres. I’m best with angsty stuff and hurt/comfort, but if you want something else, sure. Would even do romance, just tell me if you want a ship you like in there. But please don’t ask for anything x-rated, I’m too awkward to write stuff like that  
> \- I also won’t do things with OCs or reader insert. It’s not my thing and I would mess it up, I’m sorry.  
> \- Please, if possible, refrain from sending Anon asks on tumblr, if you don’t want your name to be shown that’s fully okay, just tell me and I won’t do it! That’s just for me and my organization, so I won’t have four requests for the same person.  
> \- Only one request per person, until that request is done. Then you can make another one if you want.


End file.
